ARSA accused of killing teenage girl in Buthidaung Twsp

By Admin 06 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
6 December 2024, Buthidaung

A teenage girl from Hsin Swel Ya Village, part of Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township, was reportedly killed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Wednesday night, according to sources.

A group of about 10 ARSA members entered Hsin Swel Ya Village at around 10 p.m. on December 4, firing guns and beheading 16-year-old Ma Khin Win with a knife.

ARSA members also abducted Ko Maung Maung Htay, 22, Ko Ye Ko Ko, 26, and U Oo Hla Win, 39, and set fire to five homes in the village.

“The locals have to live in constant fear because ARSA members often enter villages and kill people and burn down houses. They [ARSA members] shoot or capture anyone they see. I don’t think anyone would survive if they fell into ARSA’s hands,” said a local man.

The Arakkha Army (AA) is currently hunting for the ARSA members accused of killing Ma Khin Win.

U Kyaw Thar Aung, in his 60s, from Aungzeya Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, was gunned down by ARSA members while herding cattle on pastureland near the village on December 4.

Muslim armed groups such as ARSA, the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) and the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA) are active in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships and along the Mayu mountain range, where they are known to arrest, kill, abduct, shoot and extort local residents.

“The threat of ARSA is a great concern for the locals. Traders are also often targeted by ARSA and looted. Our friends are among those who have been shot and killed by ARSA,” said Daw Khin Khin Yee, a local woman in Buthidaung.

Local people in Maungdaw and Buthidaung who rely on the forests for their livelihoods are living in fear and anxiety amid the threat posed by the Muslim armed groups.

Although the AA has occupied the entire Buthidaung Township, Muslim armed groups hiding in the jungle frequently ambush AA troops, resulting in clashes between the two sides.